The CEO Takes a Wife(12)

Then she realized she was one of the Valente women now. Would she be able to keep Alex in line? Unlikely. She’d probably go mad in the attempt.

Hours later Olivia had changed out of her wedding finery into a soft-pink suit. Alex had also changed out of his tuxedo into dark trousers and a sports jacket. Then they said their goodbyes, hopped in a limousine and headed for the airport, where a private jet would fly them up along the coast far north of Sydney to the Valente holiday home near Ballina.

“So,” Alex said, once they were in the air and comfortable on the luxurious leather chairs opposite each other. “You enjoyed our wedding?”

She gave a polite smile. “The venue was perfect. Thank you.”

“You were wrong about not being able to act. You did well.”

Her smile widened with self-derision. “Perhaps I should become an actress after all?”

His face closed up, his jaw clenching. “After our marriage is over. Not before.”

“I’m not sure your brothers were fooled.”

“Even if they suspected something, I won’t be telling.” Tension suddenly filled the air. “I suggest you stay away from them as much as possible.”

If they’d been a normal married couple she’d think he was a little jealous of her spending time with his brothers. As it was, it sounded as if he was just being possessive of her. She was his now.

Her lips tightened. “I don’t plan on spending any more time with your brothers than necessary.”

“Good.”

Their gazes held for a brief moment before she turned to look out the window. All at once she felt tired. The last thing she remembered was how exhausted she felt by everything.

She woke to find Alex leaning forward, his warm hand clasping her knee, gently shaking her awake. “We’re almost there,” he murmured, his eyes a dark smoky gray, his touch a caress that radiated upward along her thigh.#p#分页标题#e#

Quickly she pretended he wasn’t having an effect on her, but that was like pretending he didn’t exist. He did exist, and so did his touch. And knowing he’d been watching her sleep…

She shifted and he dropped his hand. “I hope I wasn’t sleeping with my mouth open,” she said, trying to keep things light.

He leaned back in his chair with a masculine smile that smoldered with awareness. “I’ll let you know tomorrow if you snore,” he drawled, his gaze dropping to the white camisole she wore beneath her jacket.

She could feel her nipples tighten and her cheeks heat up. “I’ve been told I don’t.” There!

His smile disappeared. His eyes flicked out the plane’s window then back. “We’ll be landing soon. Do you want to freshen up? There’s bound to be a photographer or two at the airport.” He sounded detached now.

She groaned inwardly, not wanting to be on show anymore today. “Didn’t they get enough pictures at the wedding?”

He shrugged.

She gave a nod of acceptance then stood, unnecessarily smoothing her skirt. “I’d better go make myself presentable.”

“You’re more than presentable,” he said, a throaty quality to his voice that made her want to break into a run.

Make that a sprint, she decided, ignoring Alex’s gaze down the length of her back as she calmly made her way to the bathroom. Once inside she collapsed back against the door. Whoever said love made the world go round hadn’t got it right. It was more sexual attraction that did that.

The sunset was beautiful as they departed the jet, but Olivia barely had time to notice as they walked through some camera flashes to another waiting limousine. She usually wasn’t unnerved by the media, but right now she was. At the wedding it had been different.

Less personal.

Now she suddenly felt off-balance and—dare she think it—out of her depth with everything. It was bad enough that Alex probably guessed how she was feeling, but she didn’t want the world to know it, too.

Twenty minutes later they drove along a winding road to a floodlit mansion. Set in a lush sub-tropical garden, the two-story house had wide verandas surrounding both top and bottom levels. Palms swayed in the light breeze off the crystal waters and tapped against the louvered-glass windows that covered most of the house.

An older Australian couple greeted them at the door to welcome them to Villa Valente and then Alex suggested she retire to the main suite where they would eat a late dinner.

“I have a couple of calls to make first. I’ll join you in about half an hour.”

She nodded with relief, looking forward to having some time alone as she followed Harriet up the stairs. They had a minor discussion about the wedding, and the older woman, who seemed very nice, showed her around the deluxe suite, which included a small intimate table set for two in the corner.